In Years Past

July 13, 2014

In 1914, the little bridge near the Moose clubhouse at Celoron was the scene of a serious automobile accident about midnight Saturday and the three occupants of the machine, two men and a woman, escaped death most miraculously. A touring car bearing a Pennsylvania license came down the road, it was said, at a good rate of speed. It struck the iron railing of the bridge and then skidded into a telegraph pole with such force that the car was turned turtle. The names of the occupants of the car were not learned. One of the men sustained a broken collarbone, the other had a fractured finger. The woman escaped injury.

The four chief drinking places at Celoron were raided Saturday afternoon by a posse of employees of the state department of excise and liquor to the amount of over 10,000 bottles taken into custody by the state men. What bid fair to be a test case as to whether the liquor which was being sold at Celoron violated the state excise law or not would be the result. The raid was well-planned. Eight men participated and the four places were taken in charge at almost the same moment, two men to each place.

In 1939, pavement markings under a uniform method formed a part of the New York state highway officials planning to complete the marking of all highways in the state system this summer. The markings, however, would serve little purpose if the motorists did not understand them. The system of marking was based on three different lines. The first was the single broken line. It was used to show motorist the lanes in which they should travel. The second was a single solid line. This line should not be crossed except under unusual circumstances. The third was the double line which might consist of one solid and one broken line or two solid lines. If the solid line was on the driver's side, it was a prohibition against crossing the line.

A mother and daughter went shopping the other day in downtown Jamestown and had their "pitcher took" by The Journal's candid cameraman. If Mrs. Harry C. Johnson and daughter, Dorothy Jean would call at The Journal office they would receive, without charge, a 7-by-9-inch sepia-toned enlargement of the picture as would every person whose picture appeared in The Journal in this daily series. People should keep their weather eye and a grade A smile peeled for the candid cameraman who was roaming the business district in quest of informal photos.

In 1964, the heaviest rainfall of the year gave welcome relief over the weekend to the area's parched farmlands and was expected to boost Jamestown's water supply. During the 48-hour period, ending at 8 a.m. this morning, 3.42 inches of rain fell in Jamestown and throughout the county. More rain was forecast. The widespread rain, Merle Smedberg, superintendent of the Board of Public Utilities, said, was bound to help the city's water supply at the Cassadaga Valley Pumping Station.

While New York state appeared to be content to transform Route 17 into a four-lane, limited-access highway on a piecemeal basis, Pennsylvania was rapidly pushing construction of the Keystone Shortway, which would further isolate Western New York. This warning came from William Taylor, a Route 17 Association director. Mr. Taylor said he pointed out the threat when Route 17 officials met with Gov. Rockefeller in March, to push for completion of the Southern Tier Expressway from Binghamton to Lake Erie. Mr. Taylor said when the Pennsylvania shortway was completed it would be the shortest way to New York City from the west. This would not only bypass Route 17, but it would also take a considerable amount of travel off the New York State Thruway.

In 1989, plans for $1 million in rehabilitation projects at the Chautauqua County Home would proceed now that the home's board of directors had received a pledge from county government that the facility would not be closed or sold. In addition, operations would be revamped in line with the deficit-reducing trend at the home, Charles Ferraro, county Department of Social Services director, told The Post-Journal. The status of the home and its future were discussed at a meeting involving Ferraro, the Chautauqua County Legislature's ad hoc committee on the home and the home's board of directors. In a letter from County Executive John A. Glenzer, the board of directors received Glenzer's pledge that the home would remain under county auspices. "I have, in fact, withdrawn my recommendation that it be sold," Glenzer wrote.

The famous San Diego Chicken made another visit to Jamestown's College Stadium for Tuesday night's NY-P League game between the Jamestown Expos and the Batavia Clippers. Young fans got a close-up look and a hug from the famous fowl while he was performing on top of the Expos' dugout.